The last day of 27

Tomorrow is my 28th birthday. I used to celebrate birthdays (and I still do) but recently I've started really recognizing the fact that today is the last day I'll be 27. Ever. Never again in my life will I be 27 after today. And a year ago today it was the last day I would ever be 26. And a year from now will be the last day I will be 28. And so life will go on (hopefully). It's not so much that I lament growing older and adding another year onto my age. "How old are you?" "28" is not a conversation that depresses me, it's just that I am overly nostalgic about everything and the idea that I'll never again be 27 strikes me.

And everything strikes me these days. And breaks my heart.

And just because I think this is so darn cute:

My face thanks you both

Firstly, I'd like to say that I lost a follower.  It's not like it's a big deal, because I don't think I even know who's who of my followers...because we all choose names like "CarolinaGrown7" (that's mine...I think...not really sure...) and blogger won't let me click and see what their blogs are, just who else they follow. L.A.M.E. But anyway, it's still a little sad. Sorry, whomever you were.

Anyway, I just wanted to share what I did yesterday.
Nothing.
Well, not nothing. I did a lot of nothing productive.
Recently I have discovered the wonderful world of makeup.  Now, as a 27 year old woman (I still want to call myself a girl), I should know a thing or two about makeup by now, right? Nope.  All I've ever known about makeup is what the girl at the Clinique counter told me. And they all disagreed with whatever the last girl told me.
So anyway, my friend Kayla from SVU started a you tube channel and I LOVE it!

After watching her for a couple of months, I decided to branch out and see who else had things to say about makeup.  Now, let me mention that I'm picky about everything to do with entertainment.  Books. TV, movies, video games, etc. I'm so opinionated it's ridiculous, especially ridiculous in this case (did you know that it took me 3 tries to spell that word right...) because I don't know anything about makeup myself! So, I LOVE Kayla, but any time there was a "related link" below her video that You Tube thought I should like...I hated it. They were all flippy girls who looked like they've never seen the inside of a book (and I can't abide people who don't read, sorry) or...I don't know. Here, let me give you an example.

Don't even click on that link if you can help it...I mean, you can get the gist of her from the picture.
This girl makes me want to VOMIT! Ugh. And she embodies everything I dislike about the "makeup world" and this is how I see all of them.
Except for Kayla.
And this next girl.
Now, I saw this random link to another channel, and I decided to give it a try...And I fell in love with her channel!!!  Her name is Livie and she is from Wales. Okay, let's stop right there. I love EVERYONE British! Alright, that's not true, because I followed a link to another Brit from her page and I wasn't a fan, BUT, I do love this girl.
Here she is:

I love her so much that I literally spent all day yesterday watching her old videos. Yeah. She has 75 videos.  Okay, I didn't watch all of them.  Only like 85% of them.
And then I just wanted to watch more makeup videos so I rewatched some of Kayla's.
I'm such a loser.
But I know things now that I never knew before.
And thanks to Kayla, I have a new hair routine that allows my curls to be curls instead of non-curls.

Eyes, Time and Television

I was off today (woo hoo!) and Brandon had to work so consequently I was home alone. As I am most, if not all days I'm off because I can't remember the last time Brandon and I shared a day off.  But anyway, as I got out of bed I decided to have a no Eyes, no Time, no Television day.  Let me explain if your wondering how to exist without eyes and time.  For those of you who don't know me well, I'm a procrastinator down to the point where I will wear the same pair of contacts for a year and half because, for me, they're still functional.  Until one of them gets a hole, and even after knowing that, I still don't go to the eye doctor for a new prescription (contact RXs are only good for 2 years and mine expired 2 years ago) and continued to wear them and eventually it caught up with me and scratched my cornea.  Well, now I'm down to just my glasses, which in line with my procrastination, are 9 years old and suck. A lot. So I decided to go blind today.  I decided that I wasn't going to wear any corrective eye wear whatsoever.  And may I proudly say that I can successfully distinguish the difference between all four of my cats with completely terrible vision. I deserve a high five for that. So, no eyes.  Along with the no eyes, it makes it difficult to see the time on any clock that isn't on my phone, so I decided to intentionally not know what time it was, which worked almost flawlessly.  There were a couple of times when I saw the time (setting the timer on the oven, answering a phone call from Brandon, taking a picture with my phone) but for the most part I just went about my day with no knowledge of what time it was and it was so liberating!  The only real indication of time that I had was how dark it was outside. And I also decided to not watch any television whatsoever, which is usually all I do on my days off.  So what did I do?  I read.  A lot.  And I did chores, but they were limited a bit because of my severe lack of vision. And the fact that my SwifferVac only lasts for like 45 seconds before it dies - what's up with that?
I should try this again soon.  Maybe not the no eyes thing again, but the no tv, no time for sure.

Books, episode 2

Brandon and I went to a new friend's house yesterday and we played a game called "Celestial Companions" (or something like that) and it's pretty much like the Newlywed Game.  One of the questions said "Which does your wife have the most of: Books, Shoes, Friends or {enter the 4th option here which I can't remember}?" and it made me laugh.  Brandon answered correctly, obviously, and I made the comment that I probably have more books than the other three things combined.
It's so true.
I love books.  I don't just mean reading books, although I do love that, but the fell and smell of books as well.  When Brandon and I moved to Roanoke last October I knew that we weren't going to stay in that house for more than a year; I hated it from the first week we were there.  As a result, I never unpacked a large majority of our books because I knew I was just going to have to pack them back up again.  That meant that about 75% of my books were boxed up for over a year.  When we moved out of that dreadful place and down to Burgaw, I unpacked them all and took pleasure in piling them up into categories, sorting them by publication date and then placing them onto the shelves.  After putting them onto the shelves I would just run my hands along the spines and simply enjoy the fact that I had my books back.
Imagine, having more shoes than books. Who needs that many shoes?  I'd rather have a good story any day.
As to friends...well, I can't exactly box them up and move them with me wherever I go. Although there are some that I'd like to.  Two specifically that I can think of.

A few things

I can't in good conscience post on both of my other blogs (and start a new travel blog) and not post on this one.
I haven't figured out what I'm going to talk about yet.
I thought about doing one of those "30 day journal prompts" or something where I go on and on for pages and pages about things that no one else wants to read about.  But I don't want to do that.
I guess I'll just do a little something about what I'm into right now. Not that you want to read about that either.

British television
I'm always into British television.  Luthor, Doctor Who, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (the British one, the American one is rubbish...but I still watch that one too), Sherlock, Downton Abbey, a little Top Gear, Rosemary and Thyme (if you haven't seen it, look it up! it's ridiculously awful and amazing. Whole thing's on Netflix Instant) the Graham Norton Show, etc etc etc.  I am sure there are plenty more shows that I can't watch because I'm on this side of the Pond, but these are just a few that I can watch and do.  I watch some online and I watch a lot of BBC America (which played "the Patriot" the other day, and that made me laugh).  Pretty much the only two stations that I ever really watch on television are Food Network and BBC America. Okay, three, occasionally the Travel Channel.

Unpacking my house
I wouldn't exactly say that I'm "into" doing this, but as it's a necessary thing to do, I'm doing it. I must say, I am enjoying finally being down in Burgaw again.

J.K. Rowling's new book A Casual Vacancy
It's p.r.e.t.t.y. good.  It's all a bit strange, not that it's a strange novel, but... let me see if I can explain without breaking down the storyline.  It has a plot, for sure, but it's more about character development than anything else.  She really dives into the lives of these people and shows their personalities with such a rawness that is amazing. But at the same time, I am sucked into the plot. Love it.

Thinking about buying an RV and going RVing
I want to see America. And I think that doing that in an RV sounds pretty fun. I mean, it's a car and a bedroom and a kitchen and a bathroom all rolled into one! Plus a living room.  Who wouldn't love that??  But as we don't even own a house yet, it's not likely that we will own a RV any time soon, but by golly I am certainly allowed to daydream about it.  I even have some trips planned out. 

Blogging
I haven't really blogged since February, and I've gotten re-energized about doing it.  I go through phases, so I'm sure that this phase will end as well, but as for right now, I'm into making things current.

And, as I write that last section, I've lost my groove for this post.
The end.

My new love

I have discovered my new love: Downton Abbey.
It's a Masterpiece Theater show that comes on PBS and It. Is. Amazing. I can't even put into words how much I love this show.
I already have a love of history and the romantic eras of the past (please do not try to disillusion me by informing me of the realities of using the bathroom, what people really ate, the stark differences between the classes and how women dealt with their periods, I don't care). I think it would be wonderful to live in this time, right before WWI, before the world took a turn and became ugly. I will have to suffice with dreaming of living in that time, obviously, and I am okay with that, as I do enjoy my IPhone and pre-lit Christmas trees. But I love reading books about this time (Kate Morton) and really love watching good British television about this time. Any time between the Georgian era up until WWI just captures my attention more than others, and I can't get enough of it.
I won't go into detail about the plot of this show - but we'll just say it's an "Upstairs/Downstairs" show about an aristocratic family and their staff, and it is so well written and captivating that I can't remember the last time I thought a show was this good. Um, don't tell the part of my brain that is in love with "Bones" that I said that.
For those of you who are interested, the first season of Downton Abbey is on Netflix Instant play, and the 2nd season is airing right now on PBS.

I must say...

...I love my new iPhone. Which I am using to post this post. Free Blogger app!

I'll do it.

After 5 hours of blogging on our family blog, I'm a little tired of blogging, but I did want to say that I am officially going to blog more. Yes, you've all heard it before, and yes, it may be short-lived, but I will do it. I will do it. I WILL DO IT! Okay? I'll do it.

But as both Brandon and I are sick (my sickness being the 2nd cold I've had in 3 weeks) I won't be doing a huge post right now. But I will blog more. Honest.

For real.

Promise.

Hope you're satisfied with just a post with a photo from Doctor Who today.

The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Christmas Special 2011

...7 months later...

I suppose this isn't a "record keeping" blog like our family blog, so I guess that it doesn't matter too much that there's a big gap... but let me fill you in on what has happened since April 6th really quickly -
Broke my ankle
Got a job at Kroger Pharmacy
Healed my ankle
Moved to Roanoke
Quit my job at Kroger Pharmacy

That's 7 months in a nut shell. I kinda wish that I could literally put those in a picture of a nut shell to be cute, but my fingers are cold and don't want to work right, so I don't feel like doing anything other than the bare minimum of typing.

I do want to show you what the view out of my window is right now:

This is what it usually looks like:

 The world looks cool at 8 am - I should view it more often. :) It's a lot prettier than it is late at night. At least around here.

Anyway.
I also did want to mention the fact that

 has come out and yes, I have finished it already, and yes, I loved it. But I didn't really care for the Catwoman gameplay. Just sayin'.

Um. That's it for now :) I think. Pretty sure.
Nope, I wanted to mention the coming and passing of Dr. Who season 6

and how much I adore Doctor Who.

And I love this commercial:

That's all. For now.

Batman

I felt like posting today. Not that I have much to say.
I did see "Eat Pray Love" though, and I didn't hate it. It wasn't as good as the book (are they ever?) but I didn't hate it.
Ketut wasn't how I expected him to be.
Do you know what I'm impatient for??
Batman.

I'm so pumped. Have you played the first one?? If not, go play it. October can't get here fast enough for the next one. It seems as if October is the date that I'm waiting for...
Life will change! We're moving (nope, don't know where yet for sure - may just be across town again) so life will change no matter what, but it feels like I'm just hanging on a little bit at a time for October to roll around.
And I really can't wait for next year either:
The Dark Knight Rises
July 2012
No poster yet. :(
I'll just have to settle for comics for now.

Batman #709

A little more on books, and a bit on movies

I just finished Eat, Pray, Love and I did a full review of it on my Goals Blog. I loved it. It was amazing. This woman goes on a year long journey to heal herself after a bitter divorce and she learns so much in the process. It's great.
Anyway, as I was winding down that post, I started thinking about the fact that I'm about to go watch the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" and how much I hope that Julia Roberts does the Liz character justice - and then I started thinking about how other actresses did NOT do justice to the character of Elizabeth that they played.
Example #1:

I usually LOVE Keira Knightley, but man, she was NOT Elizabeth Bennet.
Example #2:

Yet another failed attempt at Lizzy. Ugh. I don't know why I hated it so much, other than the fact that Elizabeth Bennet has a certain quality about her and neither of these actresses captured her.
On the other hand...

There will never be a better Pride and Prejudice, so I hope everyone saves themselves some money and just stops trying.
And on the topic of Colin Firth...
That reminds me of his recent film:

Haven't seen it yet? You must. It was the best movie I have ever seen. Seriously. And they came out with a PG-13 version that either just came out in theaters or is about to. No excuses!!!

So, remember, now on your to-do list from Anne is:
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
"The King's Speech"

Ready...GO!

On books and movies and how they are sometimes nothing alike.

We all know my opinion on Harry Potter and those movies (right?) but my no means is my book world limited to Harry Potter (right?).
I've been reading up a storm lately. I don't know what has sparked this sudden vigorous urge to read, but it's downright lovely. I made a goal at the beginning of the year (some might call that a "new year's resolution") to read 20 new books this year, and I'm 4 down with 3 in progress.
Book #1 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I host a book club about once a month, and this was one of the books chosen by one of the other girls. I wasn't over the moon about it, but it wasn't Twilight. (Good Lord, Stephanie Meyer, you may be Mormon, but you really are a terrible writer - sorry to all the Twi-fans out there, but they really do suck). I give it a...I don't know, a 3 out of 5. It was semi-okay. The plot was pretty predictable and the main character didn't seem to have much depth, but it was a quick read that made you want to finish, even though you pretty much knew how it was going to end. It was one of those things where you're thinking "I know what's going to happen, but I have to finish so I can make sure that's what happens!" Wouldn't read it again, and probably won't read the other two, though. One thing that IS cool, though, is that Peter from Narnia is rumored to play Peeta. I like him. :) Only because he's High King of Narnia...
Book #2 - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

This was one of those books that I saw at Barnes & Noble and thought "hm, this looks interesting," so I bought it, took forever to start it and now I tell everyone I meet about this book. Okay, that's not true, but I do rave about it when the topic naturally lands on books. I love, love, love this book. 5 out of 5, no 7 out of 5. It was that good. I'm a sucker for a good "discovery" book. Not a mystery, like a "who done-it" kind of a mystery, but a family secret mystery. And that's what this book is. I have tried endlessly to explain the timelessness this book has, but apparently I'm not good at it, because everyone is always like "oh, what's her name again? Katie Morley, okay, I'll remember that." No, Kate Morton, and yes, you will remember, because I'm requiring all of my friends to read it. You know, when you have time. It's a hefty book, 550ish pages, but oh, oh, oh, so worth it! Here's a little description of the book (that I stole from Amazon):
In 1913, a little girl arrives in Brisbane, Australia, and is taken in by a dockmaster and his wife. She doesn’t know her name, and the only clue to her identity is a book of fairy tales tucked inside a white suitcase.  When the girl, called Nell, grows up, she starts to piece together bits of her story, but just as she’s on the verge of going to England to trace the mystery to its source, her grandaughter, Cassandra, is left in her care. When Nell dies, Cassandra finds herself the owner of a cottage in Cornwall, and makes the journey to England to finally solve the puzzle of Nell’s origins. Shifting back and forth over a span of nearly 100 years, this is a sprawling, old-fashioned novel, as well-cushioned as a Victorian country house, replete with family secrets, stories-within-stories, even a maze and a Dickensian rag-and-bone shop. ...It’s a satisfying read overall, just the thing for readers who like multigenerational sagas with a touch of mystery.
Man, all of the characters are so vivid and Morton does such, SUCH, a fantastic job of not only bringing them to life, but also all of their emotions, trials and desire to discover the past. I want a job where I can discover family secrets. That's what I want to do with my life. Too bad mine doesn't have any cool ones. So, if you read a book in the next 20 years, make sure this is it. Seriously. I'll be checking up on you.
Book #3: The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

I am one of those people when I love a book and then finish it, I get depressed. (Hence why I've read Harry Potter dozens of times). So, when I finished The Forgotten Garden, I got dressed and drove to Barnes and Noble to purchase more of her writing. Ok, it wasn't that immediate, but it was pretty close. And then I very quickly started this novel. This one is her first one (TFG is her 2nd) and I could tell that she learned a lot from writing her first novel. There were a few glitches here and there that kept the story from flowing as well as the second one, but it was still amazing. Both of these books take place in a pre-WWI manor house (for the most part) and that's a part of history that I (and she) love. It's before the world started to change and get horribly complicated. There were certainly things about life that I would hate (harsh social hierarchy and pre-women's suffrage) but there was something simple about life before machine guns and trenches.
Oh, warning, though: if you don't like tragedies, don't read this book. What Morton does (or at-least, what she has done with her first 2 books) is take a well known story, rips up the roots and replants it in her garden, letting it take on a whole new look in a new setting, but at the heart of it, it's recognizable to the original.  The Forgotten Garden, was obviously, The Secret Garden, and this one was "Romeo and Juliet." But don't let that sway you! They are both entirely their own story, they just have hints of the others in them. I bawled my eyes out at 4 AM (because I couldn't stop reading and I was almost done) at the end of this one and it was so...poetic and tragic. Oh my gosh. Worth reading, for sure. 5 out of 5. The 7 stays reserved for The Forgotten Garden.
Ok, Book #4: Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

This is where the movie part of the title of this blog comes in. I saw this movie when it came out years ago and really loved it. It's all about a divorced woman who finds herself and happiness by moving to Tuscany, buying a centuries old house and fixing it up. It was funny, adventurous and heart-warming. So, when I was in one of my "I want to see the world" moods (as I often am) and wandered into the travel section at the bookstore, I found Under the Tuscan Sun, proudly displayed, and decided to buy it. This was another book that took me forever to start to read. And even longer to finish, but that wasn't because it wasn't good.
Let me start by saying that the book is absolutely nothing like the movie. Okay, that's a bit much, it's almost nothing like the movie.
Similarities:
Woman named Frances
Buys a home in Tuscany
Fixes it up
Has a couple of Polish guys work for her
The end.
In the book, Frances is married, happily, and buys the home with her husband as a summer home. They fix it up, and get it started that summer, but most of the awful things, like walls crumbling down and men scrambling to run away so they don't die, happen while they are back home for the winter and they find out about them on the answering machine. They mostly finish fixing it up somewhere about half-way through the book and the rest of it talks about Tuscany and how amazing it is. She does have the same poetic language, though. "The grapes even taste purple" (probably shouldn't use quotes, because I'm pretty sure I'm paraphrasing). She includes recipes that she made and really delves into the heart of Italy and what makes the people tick. I loved it so much more than the movie. I thought the movie was superficial (after reading the book) and if I had been the author, I would have been so pissed.
The reason it took me so long to finish is because I didn't want it to end. It's like...when you go to a restaurant and order this fantastic entree and just gobble it down because it's so amazing, but then dessert comes and you savor every single bite, making it last as long as possible. It's not because it's necessarily *better* than your entree, it's just richer and you'd ruin it if you scarfed it all down. 5 out of 5. Maybe 4.5, because she sure did talk about some churches an awful lot.

-I certainly didn't intend for this post to be this long, I'm sorry-

Okay, so I'm most certainly one of those people who read more than one book at a time. I have to be "in the mood" to read a book, so if I don't feel like reading the one I'm reading, I start another one. And there are different times for different books.
Right now, I'm reading:
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Dubliners by James Joyce
The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox

Now, I haven't seen the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" and I've heard it's terrible, but if it is, it's nothing like the book, because the book is amazing. Ah.Maz.Ing. Simply.
And Joyce, who has anything bad to say about Joyce? Well, who that I am willing to listen to. Because those who think he's not a genius...I think they're idiots. Sorry.
And there is always room for a good ol' fashioned Church book.

I'll reserve full details of my opinions until after I'm finished with them. Dubliners will probably take a while, because it's one of those books that simply take a while.

Perchance to Dream

Our new house -

in my dreams.

I've been thinking a lot about where I want to go in my life, and this is one of them. Ireland - not necessarily this specific castle.

So, we're going to make a list.  A pretty list with pretty pictures. A dream list, of sorts.

Destination #1:

Ireland

Destination #2:

New Zealand

Destination #3:

Italy

Destination #4:

Egypt

Destination #5:

South Africa

Destination #6:

Thailand

Destination #7:
Holland

And you can't forget

Destination #8:

England

So that's 1-8.

I want to see the world, and one day I will.

But today I will sit and dream and look at pictures and I'll be happy about it :)

Because I do love Buena Vista (no matter how much I really hate it)

The end.

:)